Progressive Labor Party on Race & Racism

Progressive Labor Party (PLP) fights to destroy capitalism and the dictatorship of the capitalist class. We organize workers, soldiers and youth into a revolutionary movement for communism.

Only the dictatorship of the working class — communism — can provide a lasting solution to the disaster that is today’s world for billions of people. This cannot be done through electoral politics, but requires a revolutionary movement and a mass Red Army led by PLP.

Worldwide capitalism, in its relentless drive for profit, inevitably leads to war, fascism, poverty, disease, starvation and environmental destruction. The capitalist class, through its state power — governments, armies, police, schools and culture — maintains a dictatorship over the world’s workers. The capitalist dictatorship supports, and is supported by, the anti-working-class ideologies of racism, sexism, nationalism, individualism and religion.

While the bosses and their mouthpieces claim “communism is dead,” capitalism is the real failure for billions worldwide. Capitalism returned to Russia and China because socialism retained many aspects of the profit system, like wages and privileges. Russia and China did not establish communism.

Communism means working collectively to build a worker-run society. We will abolish work for wages, money and profits. Everyone will share in society’s benefits and burdens.

Communism means abolishing racism and the concept of “race.” Capitalism uses racism to super-exploit black, Latino, Asian and indigenous workers, and to divide the entire working class.

Communism means abolishing the special oppression of women — sexism — and divisive gender roles created by the class society.

Communism means abolishing nations and nationalism. One international working class, one world, one Party.

Communism means that the minds of millions of workers must become free from religion’s false promises, unscientific thinking and poisonous ideology. Communism will triumph when the masses of workers can use the science of dialectical materialism to understand, analyze and change the world to meet their needs and aspirations.

Communism means the Party leads every aspect of society. For this to work, millions of workers — eventually everyone — must become communist organizers. Join Us!

BROOKLYN, NY, June 30 — Thirty marchers took to busy streets of Church Avenue today, chanting “Racist kkkops means you gotta fight back!” and “NYPD, you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide!” This was the third week PL’ers joined with family, friends and neighbors of Shantel Davis in angry protest against the June 14 racist murder of this young woman by an undercover NYPD detective. “Wanted” posters made from the front cover of CHALLENGE (7 /5) were held high throughout the march. When PL’ers brought them to the corner they were grabbed up quickly. Promises were made to bring many more next Saturday. Marchers also eagerly took CHALLENGES, and many came back for more to make sure their friends got them.

Previous marches to the local kkkop precinct travelled along quiet streets with few bystanders along the way. But this time the march along Church Avenue, a very busy commercial street, was greeted by workers in stores and people on the sidewalks joining in our chants and raising fists in the air in solidarity with the marchers. As we approached the precinct, we marched strong into the street, ignoring the kkkops’ attempt to push us into a barricaded pen.

Speeches from local politicians and church leaders asked only for an apology and recognition from NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly. But PLP was there to make it clear that it’s not just a few bad kkkops, that the problem is capitalism and that only fighting for communism can end racist police murder and a system that doesn’t provide jobs or education for the working class. People in the community see the connections between various attacks on the working class, notably to the demonstration held earlier this week at the nearby Downstate Hospital, facing cutbacks and layoffs. One friend of the Davis family, when talking with a PL’er, realized that if the “brotherhood” of kkkops is always protecting each other and covering for murder after murder, then “something much bigger has to change.” PLP will continue to participate in this fight against police attacks on the working class.

On Saturday, July 7, those who have been fighting against the Bronx police murder of Ramarley Graham will be joining the march in Flatbush. Join us.